Managing Director, Head of Small Business
When Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan announced a round of senior leadership changes in September, the headline was that he had named a new chief financial officer and new chief technology officer.
But he also announced a series of other moves, including new responsibilities for Sharon Miller, the bank’s head of small business since 2016. In addition to continuing to oversee the bank’s small-business operations, Moynihan said, Miller will also be responsible for specialty lending and the bank’s sprawling auto finance operation.
It’s a well-deserved promotion for Miller, who has delivered strong results as head of small business for the $3 trillion-asset Bank of America.
Small business generated $4.5 billion of revenue and $1.1 billion of pretax net income for BofA last year and it appears to be on pace to top those totals in 2021, as production has returned to prepandemic levels, according to Moynihan.
Perhaps most notably, Miller was the driving force behind the bank’s successful rollout of the Paycheck Protection Program. BofA was the nation’s most active PPP lender in 2020 and between February and May of this year it originated nearly 148,000 additional loans totaling $8.9 billion. Overall, BofA made close to 500,000 PPP loans worth $35 billion.
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Miller’s 2,600-person team has been at the forefront of Bank of America’s racial equality initiatives. Fully 38% of the company’s small-business loans in 2020, representing $10 billion of capital, went to businesses in multicultural neighborhoods.
Miller also organized an effort to boost minority ownership of medical and dental practices, and in February she spearheaded the launch of Bank of America’s first-ever Black Small Business Owner Spotlight report, following up with an update in August.
Miller has not been particularly active on social media, but this year she has focused on strengthening her social media presence to communicate better with entrepreneurs — sometimes directly — about getting loans.
“I’ve challenged myself to embrace social media,” Miller said. “In the past, I’ve used it to stay up on industry trends and keep in contact with friends and family. Over the last year, I’ve strived to use my platform to advocate for and engage with members of the small-business community, especially those seeking advice and resources.”
